As the dust finally settles after the World Cup equivalent of the Gunfight at the OK Corral another question surfaces – why was Ruud van Nistelrooy still on the bench while Dirk Kuyt started, and Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink came on as a substitute?
Has van Nistelrooy suddenly become so poor that he has plummeted below Kuyt and JV of H in the Dutch pecking order?
His record during the group stage was:
Serbia and Montenegro Started but replaced by Dirk Kuyt after 69 minutes
Ivory Coast Started and scored a goal but replaced by Danny Landzaat 73 minutes.
Argentina Started but replaced by Ryan Babel 56 minutes.
So how do you go from the first choice striker – albeit one who is replaced in the second half of all three group games – to not even seeing any action in a must one game against a side that at various times is up a goal but down a man?
Of course the issue is complicated by his fall out with Sir Alex Ferguson at Old Trafford and likelihood that RVN will be changing his place of business come the new season.
There has been mention of tactical situations but I’m not sure that the explanation holds water given the desperate nature of the game against Portugal. Maybe at the kick off, but when you have the kind of possession that the Dutch enjoyed late in the game, who would you want on the park Hesselink or van Nistelrooy? (For what it is worth did Kuyt show anything to indicate that he is worth the fee that has supposedly being placed on him?)
It would seem to me that one is beyond tactics and the only explanation is van Nistelrooy and Marco van Basten must have had “words” and severe ones at that. I had expected RVN to arrive at the WC ready to take out his club frustrations on other countries.
Apart from a decent first half against Serbia and Montenegro and the chance he put away against the Ivory Coast he looked out of sorts and lacking sharpness.
The Dutch midfield missed a match-fit Rafael van der Vaart and although the passed the ball nicely in midfield there was few penetrating passes into the penalty box – the kind RVN feasts on.
The game's bogged down at bit. Van Persie is now playing a few yards deeper and that has helped the Dutch midfield.
Marco van Basten decides that the midfield needs more help - RVN off and AZ's Danny Landzaat is on.
Some poor defensive play from the Dutch as the ball bounces around the penalty box. RVP shows why you put a player on the post as he chests away a certain goal.
Edwin van der Sar shows what an advantage it is to have a keeper who can also play a bit as he brings an ackward passback down on his chest and then he cooly clears.
It has just struck me what is "odd" about this Dutch team - neither of the de Boer twins are playing. I know they have been gone for a couple of years but they were around for so long that I became accustomed to seeing them whenever the Dutch played.
The Dutch conceed a corner and they only have one post manned. God I can't understand why teams to that.
Van Bommel off and Landzaat (AZ) on. The obvious difference between the two teams is still Robben. He is the flair player that S&M just don't have.
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